


The Queen of Knives

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Bucky Barnes x Reader Series [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bloodshed, F/M, Fluff, Guns, Knives, Probably a curse word or two, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:25:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21953440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: Bucky is still pretty new to the team, so you go out of your way to make him feel welcome.  What happens when your feelings for him turn into something more than friendship?
Relationships: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Series: Bucky Barnes x Reader Series [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/774297
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	The Queen of Knives

**Bucky Barnes x Reader**

**Summary** – Bucky is still pretty new to the team, so you go out of your way to make him feel welcome. What happens when your feelings for him turn into something more than friendship?

**Warnings** – Angst, Fluff, Knives, Guns, Violence, Blood…probably a curse word or two

**Word Count** – 18K

**Notes **\- Parts 1 - 15 of 15

** _**Updated December 25, 2019**_ **

_ ** [Masterlist](https://beccaanne814.tumblr.com/post/174989754188/masterlist) ** _

[[MORE]]

She'd kept her eye on him since Rogers had brought him back from Wakanda a few months back. She wouldn't have described him as shy, but more taciturn than she'd imagined from all the stories Rogers had told her over the years. He tended to keep to himself and it was almost as though he tried to take up as little space as possible—a futile effort for someone like him.

She'd never been the one to seek out conversation, but she never turned down the opportunity to share a few beers and laughs with her teammates. It shouldn't have bothered her that he seemed to share the same mind-frame as she when it came to human interaction, but she'd grown up hearing the ghost stories about the infamous Winter Soldier and she'd developed a morbid curiosity about the man behind the myth. Still, she didn't push—he'd been through a lot in the hundred years he'd been on the earth and if anyone deserved a pass, it was him.

Giving him space hadn't turned out to be a difficult matter since it seemed as though he went out of his way to avoid her. She had no idea why—out of all the members of the team—he would be reluctant to be around her. It irked her that he wanted nothing to do with her, and it irked her that it bothered her so much.

She'd long since given up trying to talk to him about mundane things—he seemed to loathe small talk as much she did—but she was convinced there had to be some way to get him to open up enough to her that she could at least develop some form of working relationship with him.

It was a cold day in January that finally afforded her the opportunity she'd been looking for. He hadn't been an active participant in the field missions for too long, but he'd managed to avoid every single one that she'd been assigned to—until that day.

It had been a bloody and brutal battle against an outpost of HYDRA operatives nestled deep within the mountains of Eastern Europe. True to their name, they refused to die. Every time the team thought they'd vanquished the last of them, ten more bases would be discovered and they'd have to start all over again. 

This battle was no different than the last fifty they'd fought during the past year, but it had been the first that she and the Soldier had been on together. She'd seen him grab a gun from Romanoff's locker on the Quinjet and had been impressed with his choice. She found the larger semi-automatic rifles too bulky for her liking and mostly stuck to small handguns and knives. Hand-to-hand combat was her drug of choice. There was something oddly satisfying about watching a man's eyes shift from cool disdain due to her gender to utter horror and disbelief right before she ended him.

During the fight, she'd kept one eye glued to the Soldier, just to see him in action. He turned out to be just as impressive as the legends had claimed. Decades of experience with firearms made him a proficient killer, but it hadn't been until his gun had run out of ammo and he'd been forced to pull the knife from the sheath at his hip that she'd truly gotten excited—she'd finally found her opening.

She'd bided her time until the jet had taken off and most of the other team members were passed out before she dared to approach him. For some reason, she thought that the less witnesses to their encounter would afford her a greater chance of success.

"Is that a Gerber Mark II?" she asked quietly as she took the seat beside him in the back of the plane.

He looked down at the knife at his hip and then back up at her in surprise. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

She smiled as she pulled her own Mark II from her thigh holster. It still had a few flecks of blood on the blade and she made a mental note to give it a thorough cleaning once they made it back to New York.

"I prefer a Gerber," she told him as she flipped the knife in her hand. "They're lightweight and extremely versatile—deadly, too."

When she saw the gleam of interest in his eyes, she knew she'd finally found something they could talk about—something that would gain her entry into the mind of the most mysterious man she'd ever met.

He pulled his own knives from their various holders to show her as she did the same. "The LMF II Infantry—that's a good one. I like the Guardian as well."

"I haven't seen that one," he said as he took the knife from her and tested its balance. "I like it."

Her face split into a wide grin. "I have a whole set—a couple of them, actually. One is kept here on the jet and the other sets are back at the Compound."

Bucky turned and looked at the row of lockers labeled with each team member's name. "You have a whole set here?"

She stood and motioned for him to follow her. "Come on, I'll show you."

He quietly followed her to the row of lockers and watched in awe as she slid hers open to reveal an assortment of blades—some fixed and some folded.

"You're more than welcome to use any of them if you want," she offered with a shy smile.

"You have a machete?" he asked as he picked up the eighteen inch sawback blade.

She gave him a wink. "That one's my favorite. The combination of smooth blade on one side and the saw back on the other makes it extremely handy if you're outnumbered."

"It's lightweight too," he said as he tossed it from one hand to the other.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no."

YN and Bucky both looked up to find Sam staring at them in horror.

"What?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Steve," Sam called out over his shoulder. "Please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing."

Steve cast a glance over his shoulder as a smile spread across his face. "What? Buck made a new friend."

"A new friend?" Sam repeated disbelievingly—his eyes wide with shock. "Do you not see how bad this is? She is the Queen of Knives and he's the damn Winter Soldier. Those two do not need to be hanging out together coming up with new ways to butcher and filet the enemy."

YN looked at Bucky to gauge his reaction—scared that Sam's teasing would send him back into his self-imposed seclusion. When she saw the evil glint in his eye as he turned back to her, she realized that knives weren't the only thing they had in common.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked with a smirk.

"If you're thinking we need to make Wilson our new sparring partner so I can try out this machete, then, yeah—we're on the same page."

"Dammit, Steve," Sam muttered as he stomped back to his seat. "Look what you've gone and done—there's two of them now."

She spent a few seconds chuckling at Sam's complaining before she turned back to Bucky, nodding toward the machete he still held lovingly in his hands. "So, you want come down to the training room sometime and try this out?"

He looked down at the lethal blade and then back up at her. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Love.

Heart-pounding, gut-wrenching, soul-searing love.

How in the hell had this happened to him? He didn't deserve to be in love. After all of the horrors he'd committed in his lifetime, love was the last emotion he was entitled to enjoy. Guilt and remorse were better suited to him, but somehow love had slipped in when he hadn't been looking. In fact, he'd been oblivious to it for months until Steve had brought it to his attention.

"It's good to see you happy again," his best friend commented off-handedly during one of their morning runs.

He looked over at Steve with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Whaddya mean?"

Steve gestured vaguely to Bucky's face. "You know—you're always smiling these days. It's nice." He looked back at the path before adding one last comment. "Reminds me of the old days."

Bucky didn't respond. Had he been smiling more than usual lately? Sure, he laughed at Steve's jokes, or Clint's pranks, but he had a feeling that wasn't what his friend was referring to.

"You two are good together."

That statement had Bucky stopping dead in his tracks. As he stood in the middle of the pathway, he finally figured out what Steve was referring to. He was talking about her.

YN.

It had taken Steve a moment to realize that Bucky was no longer beside him, but when he turned around to see what was wrong with his friend, he couldn't help but chuckle. Bucky was standing in the middle of the running trail like a deer caught in the headlights. Shaking his head, he began to run back.

"You're just now figuring it out, aren't you?" Steve had asked once he'd stopped in front of Bucky.

"We're just friends," Bucky said, more for his own benefit than for Steve's.

Steve laughed and dropped his head. "Sure, pal. You keep telling yourself that."

A look of shock came over Bucky's face. "You don't think she. . .?" His voice trailed off as though speaking aloud his suspicions would make them true.

"She's been smiling a lot more lately. Even Sam noticed." Steve cocked his head to the side and gave Bucky a wink. "I don't think he's too thrilled with the notion, though."

"Wilson's an ass," Bucky said reflexively.

"Maybe so, but he's a pretty observant one."

Bucky's mind was still reeling. Now that he was aware of it, he knew exactly what Steve was talking about. He was in love with her—had been for a while. He wracked his brain as he tried to pinpoint the exact moment it had happened. Had it been while they'd been training together for the past few months? Or maybe one of those times they'd run into one another late at night when neither one of them could sleep?

The longer he thought about it, the more clear the answer became. His heart had known all along, but his brain had taken a little bit longer to catch up. While he'd been so busy trying to bury himself in his own misery, the traitorous organ within his chest had been off doing its own thing. Love had snuck in like a thief in the night, and now it had taken up residence in his heart and there was no way of extricating it.

"She let me borrow her knives."

Steve clapped Bucky on the shoulder. "And that's when you fell in love with her."

Bucky didn't say anything, but he nodded. Steve was right. Bucky remembered the day like it was yesterday. They'd just finished a mission and she'd asked him about his Gerber Mark II. That's all it had taken. He'd never believed in soulmates before—there'd been too many beautiful dames back when he was younger for him to even consider settling down with just one. But now? Now he knew that there was only one woman for him. She'd become such an integral part of his life that he couldn't imagine what it would be like without her.

"She deserves better than me, Steve," Bucky said softly as sorrow became etched into his features.

Steve reached back out toward his friend, but it was in comfort this time. Grasping his shoulder, he waited until Bucky was looking him the eyes before he began to speak. "I know you, Buck. I know you better than anyone else in the world. You deserve to be happy." He held up a hand when Bucky started to protest. "Shut up and listen to me. She understands—just like the rest of us do. You didn't have a choice. She sees you for the man you truly are. If I didn't think she did, I wouldn't have let her near you."

Bucky's breath was coming in short gasps as the reality of the situation finally started to sink in. He was in love. "I have to tell her."

A beaming smile spread across Steve's face. "Maybe you should take her out on a date or two before you drop that bomb on her just yet."

"But you said. . ." Bucky began as fear gripped his heart. How had he gone from not even knowing how her felt about her to raw panic at the thought of not having her in his life?

"I know what I said, but I still think you need to do this right." Steve nodded his head as an idea began to form. "Maybe it's time you got your groove back."

"Got my groove what?"

Steve dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Never-mind, it was some stupid movie Nat made me watch. The point is, you used to be quite the ladies' man—YN might enjoy seeing that side of you."

Finally understanding what Steve was talking about, Bucky considered his idea. It had been so long since he'd been that young, carefree skirt-chaser, it almost seemed like another life. Was Steve right? Was it time to put aside his guilt and start living again? He thought about her smile and the way her eyes lit up when he walked into a room. Yeah, it was time. He was in love and he needed to do right by his best girl.

Bucky was used to the burden of guilt that had continually hung over his head once his memories had started to return. Knowing that HYDRA had forced him to do things he'd never thought himself possible made him sick with remorse. But it wasn't guilt—or even anger over his own powerlessness— that had overtaken his life.

It was love.

Ever since Steve had pointed it out to him on their run a few days back, Bucky couldn't stop thinking about it. He was in love. He was in love with YN, and now she was the central focus of his life. Before he'd been aware of the fact, he'd been able to ignore it, but now it was a constant fixture in his thoughts. He wanted to scream it from the rooftops, but Steve had cautioned him from doing anything rash.

He had to tell her, though. She had to know how much she meant to him. It was killing Bucky to be around her everyday and not tell her how amazing, how beautiful, how special she was. He felt like some love-sick teenager that had his first crush, but it was more than that. This was real, and he desperately needed to know if she felt the same way.

Steve had mentioned that she'd been smiling more, so now Bucky had become obsessed with seeing how many times he could get her eyes to twinkle the way they only did when she was truly happy. Every time he was graced with one of her beaming smiles, he felt his heart get a little lighter. If she happened to laugh along with the smile, it was a though he was floating on a cloud.

He had it bad, and he was painfully aware of the fact. He could remember making fun of the other guys in his unit back during the war when they'd get all sappy talking about their girls back home. He'd thought them to be ridiculous fools, but he had been the fool. He hadn't known how wonderful it felt to be in love and now he finally understood why they'd looked at him in sympathy when he'd teased them about their ball and chains.

Bucky was determined to do things the right way, though. YN deserved more than a hastily revealed confession during a training session. He knew she deserved more than him—a broken shell of a man that may never be whole again—but there was a part of him that hoped that she might be able to help him find the missing pieces of himself. She might be the key to finally rediscovering the man HYDRA had tried to erase for decades. It didn't seem fair to him to place that burden on her, which is why he was fully prepared to deal with her possible rejection.

It had been a week since his love for her had begun to consume his every thought, and he'd wracked his brain for days trying to figure out how he was going to tell her. He'd considered asking Steve for advice, but he felt as though this was something he needed to do on his own. He needed to dig deep within himself and pull out what was left of the charming man he'd been before the war. If he had any chance of winning her heart, he needed to pull out all the stops.

"I think I've got it," Bucky announced as he plopped down in the visitor's chair in Steve's office.

"Got what?" Steve asked absentmindedly as he read over his latest mission report one more time before submitting it.

"The date."

Those two words were all it took to shift Steve's attention away from his work and onto his friend. A huge grin spread across his face. "Yeah? Whatcha got planned? Picnic in the park? Dinner and a movie? Dancing?"

Bucky shook his head and frowned. "For YN? Absolutely not."

Steve was confused. "Buck. . ."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two tickets. "I'm taking her to the SHOT show next weekend."

"What's the SHOT show?" Steve asked as he grabbed the tickets and began reading the details. His face fell when he figured it out. "The Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades show?"

"It's perfect," Bucky continued as he completely ignored Steve's look of shock. "Gerber is going to have a booth with their new line of knives for this year. She's going to love it."

Steve let out a long breath as he weighed the pros and cons of Bucky's plan. On one hand, his friend was right—YN would love getting her hands on the newest knives her favorite manufacturer had to offer. But on the other—she might be expecting something a little more romantic for her first date with Bucky.

"She's going to love it," Steve agreed reluctantly. "But you might want to try to make it a little more romantic."

Bucky's face fell. "I'm screwing this up already, aren't I?"

"No, no, no," Steve quickly assured him. "This is a good start. . ."

Bucky rose from the chair and began pacing the room as he drug his fingers through his hair. "Who am I kidding? This is a stupid idea."

"It's not stupid—you just need to think a little bit out of the box."

"No," Bucky argued. "The whole thing is stupid. She's not interested in me like that, Steve. I mean, why would she be? Look at me." He paused and held out his arms as he dejectedly shook his head. "No woman in her right mind is going to want to be with someone like me."

"You're going to want to shut the hell up right now."

The warning tone in Steve's voice had Bucky looking back up in surprise. He immediately recognized the pissed off look in his best friend's eye, and prepared himself for the tongue-lashing he was about to receive.

"I'm sick and tired of you walking around here like some damn ghost," Steve began. "You think what happened to you is your fault? You're wrong. HYDRA is to blame for what happened to you—for what they forced you to do for seventy years. That's not on you, and you know it." He took a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're just scared."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about." Bucky turned to walk away, but Steve's words stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm scared, too, Buck."

Bucky took a deep breath and hung his head while he waited for Steve to elaborate.

"I'm scared of starting over—of having a life. I'm scared that someone else I love will get hurt, and I don't want that on my conscience."

Steve's words were a jolt to Bucky's system. His best friend had just surmised everything Bucky had been feeling since Shuri had freed him from HYDRA's hold. He'd thought if he refused to allow himself to be the same man he'd been in the forties that it would be easier on himself, but he'd been wrong. He'd known he had to do something about his love for YN, but a part of him had been hoping that she would reject him so he wouldn't have to worry about someone else depending on him. The knife show was a good idea for a friend, but she deserved more from him if he wanted to win her heart. She deserved to know the real Bucky Barnes—even if it terrified him to let someone get close to him.

"You're right."

Upon hearing Bucky's softly spoken words, Steve's anger faded. "I know I am. The question is, what are you going to do now?"

Bucky thought for a moment before turning around and giving Steve a smile. "I think I have the perfect idea."

The sun was nowhere near being ready to grace the world with its presence for the day, so it was utter madness for YN to be out walking the streets of New York by herself. But she couldn't stay in the Tower one more second. Her heart was breaking in two and her soul felt like it was ripping in half every minute she spent in the same space as him.

Even though the hour was late—or early depending on which school of thought one prescribed to—the streets of her home were full of traffic and people. New York was the city that never slept, and YN was seeing that firsthand as she wandered along aimlessly. She knew a woman walking along at this hour would appear to be an easy mark for the ne'er-do-wells that preyed upon the city like a pack of wild hyenas. A part of her wished one of them would come after her so she would have an outlet for the pent up frustration and anger that was slowly eating away at her.

It was her fault, though. She was adult enough to admit it, but it still didn't make it any easier to swallow. She'd been warned, and she'd heedlessly ignored those warnings because she thought she was strong enough to handle anything.

She'd been wrong.

It had started out simply enough. She'd told him he could borrow her knives and their friendship had blossomed over night. They'd spent hours in the training room sparring and trying out her different array of weapons, and it had all been fine. . .until it wasn't.

He'd needed a friend upon his return from Wakanda, and she'd wanted to feel useful. Steve had talked about him so much that she felt as though she knew Bucky almost as well as his best friend did. What she hadn't been counting on was her growing attraction to the broken man. She'd tried to keep her feelings to herself, but she'd fallen before she'd even realized how close to the edge she'd wandered.

She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when everything had changed for her because it had happened so gradually—so naturally. With any other person, it would be a fairy tale love story, but nothing about Bucky Barnes' life was a fairy tale. His entire existence after he'd fallen from the train in Austria was a horror story that would give most men nightmares for the rest of their lives. The fact that Bucky had lived through it and still had his sanity spoke volumes for the strength of his character.

That had been one of the things that had attracted her to him. Even with the layers of guilt weighing him down every moment of his life, his personality was still as magnetic as it had been in the forties. YN was completely powerless to resist him, and now she was paying the price for that. She loved the time she spent with him—both in and out of the training room—but it was taking its toll on her. 

Unrequited love was a bitch.

She'd always prided herself on her strength, so to realize that she was nothing more than a cliché from a cheesy romance novel pissed her off. But it didn't change the facts. She was in love with a man that may not ever be capable of returning her feelings.

It wasn't that Bucky was callous. It was the opposite, actually. He was so compassionate that he still held himself to blame for every horrendous deed HYDRA had forced him to commit for over seventy years. Because of his guilt, he didn't feel as though he deserved happiness. She knew he found pleasure in her company, but she could also see how it was eating away at him to feel even a moment of contentment when there were so many people still suffering from his hand.

She'd hoped that in time he would learn to forgive himself, but now she was convinced that being with her was only making things worse for him. But she was selfish. She'd come to depend on him, and denying herself the solace of his friendship wasn't something she could force herself to do. He'd become an addiction for her, and she just couldn't stop herself. She knew that her self-loathing would only get worse, but she was the moth, and he was the flame that enticed her to risk being burned alive just so she could experience the euphoria she could only find in his presence.

Trying to drown out her thoughts, she popped in her headphones and turned her music on shuffle. When she heard the first song, she groaned aloud. Leave it up to Fate to play the one song on her playlist that would only make her feel worse.

Maybe Adele was right. Maybe she was just chasing pavements. Maybe she had no future with Bucky, but until she confessed her true feelings, she'd never know. As the lilting melody continued to play, she made up her mind. She was going to tell him how she felt and to hell with the consequences.

"Who smiles at a time like this?" YN asked with a groan as she buried her face in the throw pillow she was currently cradling against her chest.

"Aww, come on,"Sam teased as he poked her in the side. "This is hilarious."

She looked up and gave him a glare. "I'm so glad my misery is so entertaining to you. Remind me to never come to you with my problems again."

Sam made a tsking sound and shot her another one of his infectious grins. "I didn't say I wouldn't help you. I'm just enjoying the fact that you came to me instead of one of the other ladies." He used the back of his hand to brush a piece of nonexistent lint off of his shoulders. "My superior knowledge in the art of romance is as vast as the ocean."

YN snorted. "Oh, so that's why you're still single?"

Sam's smile faltered for a moment.

"I came to you because you're the expert on vets with PTSD," she clarified before he had the opportunity to speak. "That's the only superior knowledge I'm trying to tap today, pal."

Understanding dawned on Sam, and his smile turned melancholy. "You really like him, don't you?"

"I love him, Sam."

YN could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she swallowed hard in an effort to keep them at bay. Realizing that she was in love with Bucky was already difficult enough, but trying to find a way to overcome his self-loathing long enough to give her a chance was an insurmountable obstacle.

He shook his head as he considered his words. "I can see that now." He turned to her and pointed a finger in her face. "That doesn't mean I like this one bit."

His panicked expression had her chuckling. "I know, I know. Something about the Queen of Knives and the Winter Soldier. . ."

"I have every right to be scared, woman."

This was why she adored Sam Wilson. He always knew how to lighten even the most dire situation, but his humor was never inappropriate. "As long as you never get on our bad side, it shouldn't be a problem."

"I live on that asshole's bad side," Sam muttered under his breath.

"He only pushes your buttons because you're not afraid to be yourself around him."

Sam opened his mouth to say something, but before he uttered a word he snapped it shut again.

"You hadn't figured that out yet, had you?" she asked, completely dumbfounded that he'd missed something so obvious to the rest of them.

He cocked his head and gave her a long look. "You know you already have your answer right there, don't ya?"

Now it was YN's turn to be dumbfounded. "But. . ."

"No 'buts,' YN."

She inhaled as she prepared to say something else, but then she realized she was about to start another sentence with the word 'but.'

"Be patient with him," Sam continued when he realized she had nothing but excuses lined up. "You wanted my expert advice—there it is."

"Patience," she repeated. "So does that mean I should wait for him to make a move?"

"Hell, no," Sam said with a look of mock horror on his face. "You'd be waiting another seventy years for that idiot to get a clue." He sighed and reached over to take her hand. "Don't come on too strong. Keep it casual until he's gotten a chance to wrap his head around the new dynamic."

YN gave Sam's hand a squeeze before rising from the couch. "Thanks, Sam. I owe ya one."

"I'll start a tab."

She gave him a smile as she began wandering back to her room. Sam had suggested she keep it casual, but what did that mean? She took a seat behind her desk and absentmindedly checked her email while she considered her options. When she saw the announcement from Gerber about the upcoming SHOT show she knew she'd found the perfect non-date idea to introduce him to the idea of spending time with her outside of work. With a few clicks and a huge smile on her face, she'd ordered two tickets for this coming weekend.

YN had spent the rest of week trying to figure out how to broach the idea of her and Bucky going on a "date" together. She knew she wouldn't actually use the D-word, but it still made her nervous to ask him to do anything with her outside of the training room. Sam was being very supportive and giving her subtle thumb-ups and exaggerated eyebrow wiggles every time she was in the same room as Bucky, but she still hadn't worked up the nerve to talk to him.

Friday rolled around and she knew it was now or never. She'd toyed with the idea of waiting until the morning of the show, but she figured he needed at least twenty-four hours to process the idea and decide if it was something he wanted to do. Springing it on him at the last minute would most likely end in disaster.

Standing in the kitchen with Sam, she knew the instant Bucky had entered the room from the ridiculous facial expressions on Sam's face. She gave him a nervous grimace and turned to greet the object of her affections.

"Good morning, Bucky." The smile on his face when she greeted him had her hopes soaring.

"YN," he said as he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Just the person I wanted to talk to you."

His words took her off guard and instead of asking him about the SHOT show the next day, she just stood there gaping at him.

"So, here's the thing," he began, his words running together slightly from his rushed delivery. "I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me today." He paused for a moment before clarifying. "Outside of the Tower."

She was speechless. How had this happened? She'd had it all perfectly planned out and then he'd blindsided her with his request.

"YN has no plans for the day, do you, YN?" Sam interjected when he saw that YN was about to blow her chance.

"No," she said finally. "I'm free all day long." She took a deep breath to clear her head. "What did you have in mind, Bucky?"

Bucky could barely contain his happiness. So far, things were going great.

He'd told her to change into something comfortable and meet him in the parking garage. She'd been surprised when he led her to one of the SUV's instead of his bike, and even more surprised when she saw the large picnic basket resting on the backseat. 

They'd driven out of the city to a small town that looked like something off of a postcard. The streets were lined with trees and large pots of cheery flowers and people actually stopped on the sidewalks and chatted for bit before heading to their destinations. The near silence of the car was a bit awkward, though, as neither of them really knew what to talk about outside of work.

Bucky pulled into the lot adjacent to the park and opened her door before grabbing the picnic basket. "I thought we could sit by the river and have lunch."

"That sounds lovely," she said as they started across the grass to a spot with a good view of the river. 

She opened the basket and pulled out the blanket as he began removing plastic containers of food.

"I asked FRIDAY what you liked to eat. . ."

YN's eyes grew wide with shock. "Tony's AI monitors what we eat?"

"No, no," he stuttered as he realized his mistake. "It's not like that. I just had her pull up your grocery list. . ." He trailed off as he muttered to himself, "Because that's any less creepy."

She reached over and laid a hand on his arm. "It's fine. It's actually kind of sweet."

Feeling a little better, Bucky smiled and continued getting out the food. But before they could start eating, an ominous black cloud passed by overhead and rain began pouring down on them.

With a groan, she scrambled to her feet and began running back to the car with Bucky following closely behind. As they sat in the SUV and watched the surprise spring thundershower ruin their food, she wondered if the day could get any worse.

Bucky had eventually ventured out to gather up their soggy lunch and stow it away in the back hatch before getting behind the wheel again. "So, any places in particular you like to eat?"

A small smile played at the corners of her lips. She was glad to see that he wasn't giving up just yet. She told him about a great Mexican place called Guacamole's on the Upper West Side. Nodding his head, he put the address into the GPS and started back to the city.

Finding a parking spot wasn't easy, but he'd eventually found an empty place a few blocks from the restaurant. The thunderstorms hadn't made it to the city yet, so their walk was fairly pleasant, but what they found at the restaurant wasn't encouraging at all.

"Closed for a private party," YN read aloud from the handwritten sign on the locked door. "Will reopen for dinner at five pm."

"I'm so sorry, YN," Bucky apologized.

"It's not your fault. Let's just walk around and see if we can find somewhere else to eat."

They started back toward where the car was parked and when they came to the first intersection, a sign down the connecting street caught Bucky's eye. "What about there? You like Chinese?"

"That's perfect," she said. "I could use some wonton soup to ward off the chill from that rain."

"I'm sorry about that, YN," he apologized again. "I swear I checked the weather, and it was supposed to clear and sunny until this afternoon."

"That's why they call them pop-up showers," she told him. "They just show up out of nowhere with no warning. You couldn't have predicted that."

They got a table by the window and the waiter brought out the first course. Bucky had chosen to skip the soup and go straight for the egg rolls as an appetizer. Everything tasted wonderful, but the time the check arrived, YN's stomach was starting to cramp up. Rationalizing that she'd eaten too much, too fast, on an empty stomach, she ignored the pangs and let Bucky lead her back out onto the street.

He looked up at the sky. "It doesn't look like it's going to rain anytime soon. You up for a walk through Central Park?"

Her stomach was really starting to hurt, but she agreed anyway. 

At the intersection that led to the park, Bucky had reached down and grabbed her hand, surprising her even further. Intertwining her fingers with his, she tried to ignore the growing discomfort in her belly and enjoy the lovely day.

But her digestive system didn't want to cooperate.

They'd only walked a few yards along the path when she'd had to run to the first trashcan she saw. Throwing up was never fun, but having to do it on a first date with the guy she was pretty sure she was head over heels in love with was even worse. 

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she apologized. Bucky waved away her apology and insisted they head back to the Tower. She hadn't wanted to cut the day short since he'd gone to so much trouble to plan such a romantic first date, but even after emptying her stomach in the trash can, she could tell she wasn't finished throwing up for the day.

She'd hit one more trash can before leaving the park, and then she'd thrown up again on the ride back to the tower. Thankfully, Bucky'd had the foresight to grab a couple plastic shopping bags from a street vendor as they'd walked back to the car.

When she'd thrown up again in the bathroom off the parking garage, Bucky had insisted she go straight to the med bay a few floors below the common room. The doctor on staff had diagnosed her with food poisoning and hooked her up to an IV before making her take activated charcoal so she could throw up anything else that still remained in her system.

Once the doctor was sure she gotten it all up, YN felt as though she'd been run over by a truck. Her stomach muscles ached from throwing up a half dozen times and she had a horrible headache. Bucky turned out the lights in her room, and before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep.

"Is she alright?" Steve whispered as he peeked his head into the room to find YN sleeping peacefully and Bucky sitting with his head in his hands looking perfectly miserable.

Bucky looked over at YN to make sure she hadn't woken up before nodding toward the door. Once they were in the hall, he told Steve everything that had happened that day.

"It was a disaster, Steve," he said as he hung his head dejectedly. "Nothing I did went right, and now she's in the med bay with food poisoning."

Steve felt absolutely horrible. It had been his idea for Bucky to go the more romantic route. If only he'd kept his big mouth shut, Bucky would have taken her to the knife show and none of this would have happened.

"I'm so sorry," Steve apologized.

"Don't blame yourself," Bucky said as he laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "No one could have predicted this." He paused and looked over his shoulder at YN's sleeping form through the crack in the door. "I guess some things just aren't meant to be."

YN woke up in the med bay, but it took her a few moments to remember where she was and why she was there. When she saw Bucky curled up in the uncomfortable chair by her bed, her heart ached with happiness. She couldn't believe that he'd stayed with her all night long. It was a sign—or at least she hoped it was a sign that he was still willing to give things between them another shot.

Slipping from the beneath the covers as quietly as she could, she tiptoed out of the room and went looking for the doctor. Once he'd told her that she was fine and had removed her IV, she'd gone back to her room to shower and change. There was still a chance her idea for a first date might work out.

When she went back to the med bay to check on Bucky, she wasn't surprised to find him still snoring softly in the chair. He'd probably stayed up half the night worrying about her. 

There was a lock of hair hanging down in his face and she wanted so badly to reach out and tuck it behind his ear, but she knew better. Between his military training, and his PTSD, touching him while he slept would be a huge mistake. 

She checked the time on her watch and saw that they would need to leave soon, so she cleared her throat loudly to rouse him from his slumber. Watching him slowly come awake brought a smile to her face. The way he stretched his sore muscles from the uncomfortable chair, and the adorable groans he made had her heart singing.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

His vision was still blurry from sleep, but when it cleared he was surprised to find YN up and already dressed. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled. "Got the all-clear from the doc. How about you? You didn't need to sleep in that uncomfortable chair all night. . .although I'm glad you did."

He shrugged off her concerns. "It was the least I could do." He sighed and dropped his head. "I'm so sorry for everything that happened yesterday."

She reached out and tucked the strand of hair behind his ear and let her hand linger on his cheek for a moment as she waited for him to look back up at her. When his gaze met hers again, she reluctantly dropped her hand.

"It wasn't your fault," she reminded him for what felt like the hundredth time. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and asked him what she should have asked him the day before. "How would feel about a do-over?"

"A repeat of yesterday? Are you kidding?"

She shook her head. "No, definitely not a repeat." She gave him a sly smile. "I actually had something planned for us to do today, but you beat me to the punch yesterday."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What did you have in mind."

Pulling the tickets from the back pocket of her jeans, she held them up for him to see. "Ever heard of a SHOT show?"

When he burst out laughing, she was momentarily confused. Had she somehow screwed up? 

Still laughing, he held up a finger and reached into his own pocket for his wallet. Opening it up, he pulled out the two tickets he'd bought before he'd let Steve talk him into changing his plans.

"I had the same idea, but I let some punk talk me out of it," he explained with a frustrated shake of his head. "That'll teach me to take dating advice from the man that's never been on a date in his life."

She brought her hand to her mouth as she tried to stifle her giggles. Leave it to Steve to screw up what should've been the perfect first date. "I can't believe we had the exact same idea."

"Maybe some things are meant to be," he offered hopefully.

Giving him a huge smile, she reached out and took his metal hand in hers. "Perhaps. But things might work a little better if we actually talk to one another instead of going to other people for advice."

His eyes narrowed. "Who'd you talk to?"

"Sam," she admitted with a sigh.

"Really? Bird boy gave you advice for how to ask me out?"

"Yeah, but I think our conversation was more beneficial to him that it was to me."

"How so?"

She let out a breath and tried to find the right words to describe her conversation with Bucky's biggest frenemy without making him feel self-conscious. "I might have let it slip that only give him a hard time because he doesn't treat you with kid gloves."

The second the words left her mouth, she realized that Bucky was just as surprised by her observation as Sam had been. She waited for a beat to see if he'd get angry, but he simply smiled and nodded his head.

"You're right," he admitted reluctantly. "That asshole has been giving me shit since the moment I met him. He knows I can snap him in two, but he's not scared of me."

"Because you're not scary, Bucky."

"I'm the Winter Soldier," he reminded her with a facetious glare.

"So what?" she shot back at him. "I'm the Queen of Knives."

"And what a pair we make."

His comment had her laughing. "Go take a shower so we can to see the latest developments in deadly weapons. We have reputations to uphold, after all."

He stood and held out a hand to help up to her feet. "Have I told you how amazing you?"

"No, but I kinda figured that out on my own."

"Beautiful and smart?" he asked as he linked his fingers with her and led her down the hallway toward the elevators. "How did I ever get so lucky?"

"Not by listening to Steve Rogers," she teased as she playfully bumped her shoulder against his.

He groaned and closed his eyes. "Remind me to never listen to another word that comes out of his mouth."

YN fixed them something quick to eat for breakfast while Bucky took a shower. Her stomach was still a little sore, so she opted for something light, but for him, she went all out—bacon, eggs, toast, and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

After they'd finished breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen, they'd headed to the SHOT show. It was everything they'd both hoped it would be. The two attendants at the Gerber booth had been thrilled to have a couple Avengers interested in their products and had ended up giving them prototypes for next year's models to take home and try out so they could offer their feedback. When YN told them that both she and Bucky used Gerber knives exclusively in field, the manager of the booth had told them she was pretty sure she could talk to her bosses about creating a specialty line just for the two of them. 

"This was a productive trip," YN whispered to Bucky as she held one of the prototype knives in her hand to check its balance.

"Absolutely," he agreed. "But how is Stark going to feel about us being the new faces of Gerber knives?"

"Knowing him, he'll probably be so thrilled with the good press that he'll buy the company and run the ad campaigns himself." She gave Bucky a quick once-over. "You ready to be a model, Bucky Barnes?"

He thought about her question for a few moments. "You know what? A face this pretty deserves to be shared with the world."

For the first time since she'd met him, she finally saw the man Steve had always talked about. She'd fallen in love with the broody recluse, but she was sure she could get used to this side of him eventually.

His expression turned somber as he gave her a worried look. "So, I hate to ask, but are you hungry? 'Cause I'm starving."

She started to laugh even though she knew she shouldn't. "I'll make you a deal—I'll have dinner with you as long at it's pizza back at the tower while we try out our knew knives."

He shook his head and smiled. "I can live with that."

Acting purely on impulse, she leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks for coming with me today, Buck."

"I've had a great time, doll."

"Maybe we should do this again sometime," she suggested hopefully.

He reached out and cupped her face as he looked deep into her eyes. "How about tomorrow?"

When she nodded her head, he leaned in and lightly brushed his lips across hers. He wanted to deepen the kiss, but they were still in the middle of a crowded room, and he figured they had all the time in the world. Today was just the first day of what he hoped would be a long line of perfect days because there was one thing he was sure of—any day with her was a perfect day.

When Bucky had shown up at her door with a picnic basket and a smile, she'd had her doubts. The last time they'd tried a picnic, they'd gotten rained out. But once they'd gotten to the serene little spot he'd chosen and he'd pulled out two cases of knives and a target to affix to one of the trees, she'd rethought her initial misgivings. The sky was cloudless, and she thought they might actually have a chance of making this date work this time around.

"I thought a change of scenery would be nice for our training sessions," he said as he handed her a knife and watched as she effortlessly lodged it dead-center into the target.

She gave him a smile as she went to retrieve her weapon. "You're getting better at this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked as he threw his own knife once she'd moved out of the way.

"The first time we tried this, it didn't quite work out how you'd planned." She made a choking sound and bumped his hip with hers.

Dropping his head, he let out a groan. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Reaching over, she placed a finger under his chin and tilted his face up to meet her gaze. Leaning in, she lightly placed a kiss on his lips. "It wasn't exactly the kind of experience I'd been led to believe I'd have going on a date with Bucky Barnes."

"You've been listening to too many stories from Steve." He paused when he saw the confused look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Bucky."

He waited for a few moments to see if she'd elaborate, but that's all she said—just his name. "I don't understand, doll."

"Why Bucky?" she asked as her brow furrowed. When she saw that he was still confused, she elaborated. "I mean, your name is James. Why not Jim, or Jimmy, or even Jamie?"

"Oh," he said as he nodded his head with a laugh. "Do you have any idea how many of the guys I grew up with were named James?"

She shook her head. "I'm going to guess a lot."

"You have no idea," he told her. "In my neighborhood alone there were five other guys named James. So we all came up with nicknames for one another."

"Did Steve help pick out yours?" she asked as she threw another knife at the target.

"No, I didn't know Steve yet," Bucky explained. "We didn't meet until school started."

She walked over and pulled the knife from the thick foam of the target and began twirling it as she headed back to where Bucky stood. "I get where Bucky comes from, but what about the other guys. What were their nicknames?"

Bucky thought for a moment. "Well, there was Scrapper. . ."

"Scrapper?" YN asked, interrupting with a laugh. "Let me guess, he was the one that always got in a fight."

"He would've given Steve a run for his money for how many back alley fights he started before he hit twenty."

"Okay, who else?"

"We also had a Beethoven," Bucky said as he flung a knife at the target. "His mom made him practice the piano for an hour every day before he could come out to play."

"Appropriate," YN said as she waited for Bucky to get his knife so she could take her turn. 

Bucky walked back toward her with his knife in hand. "Peanut got his name after Mr. Peanut since he was a skinny kid with a huge head."

"That's three so far." She nodded her head with a disbelieving look in her eye. "I've got to say, you guys weren't very creative with your nicknames, though."

"Oh, just wait," he told her with a wink. "It gets better."

She shot him a glance out of the corner of her eye as threw her knife across the small clearing. "Go on."

"There was Chubs," Bucky said with a shrug. "I'm sure you can guess why he got that name, but the best name was Pork Chop."

YN narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm dying to hear this story."

Bucky began laughing before he'd even started speaking. "Sorry, it's just that I haven't thought of this story in a while." He composed himself and began the retelling. "So, Pork Chop's mom was. . .well, strict is too tame of a word for her. She was a formidable woman that scared the shit out of all us—even Pork Chop. One night she'd made fried pork chops for dinner. She'd coated them in flour before frying them, but one little piece didn't quite get in the oil, so it was still white. Pork Chop shot his mouth off about it and his mom literally grabbed his entire plate and slung it across the room. He came running out of his apartment still covered in mashed potatoes, and so the name kinda stuck. We even heard that when they moved out a few years later, there were still mashed potatoes on the wall behind the fridge."

"You made that up," YN said with a shake of her head. "There's no way that story really happened."

Bucky made an X over his heart. "I swear on my Ma's grave, that really happened."

YN started laughing as she went to retrieve her knife. "Okay, all this talk about pork chops and peanuts is making me hungry." She nodded toward the picnic basket sitting on the blanket. "Think we can make it through lunch without getting rained on?"

He grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him. "Honestly, doll, I don't care what the weather does as long as you're with me."

Leaning in, she brushed her lips over his. She wasn't surprised when he began to deepen it, but she knew if she didn't put the brakes on soon, she'd never get anything to eat. Pulling away, she laid a hand on his chest. "Lunch first, dessert later."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, hoping that they were on the same page when it came to what constituted dessert.

"I've got eyes on the target," Steve whispered just loud enough for his comms to pick up his voice. "Southeast corner, heading west."

"Copy that, Rogers," YN answered as she moved into position and lined the man up in her crosshairs. "Target has been acquired. What's the call?"

Steve and Sam were in the alley on the opposite side of the building they were staking out while YN and Bucky were positioned with sniper rifles on two separate rooftops with bird's eye views of all entrances and exits. They'd been tasked with bringing down the leader of a black market arms dealer, and rumor had it he was setting up a buy in the deserted building they were staking out.

"Hold your position," Steve murmured into the comms as he waited to see what their target would do.

"I think he smells a trap," Bucky pointed out when the target glanced down at a message on his phone and then began walking back they way he'd just come.

YN followed his progress with the scope of her rifle and agreed with Bucky. "He's rabbiting. Do we follow or stay put?"

"This is our guy, Steve," Sam whispered as the target walked around the edge of the building and disappeared. "We've been trying to track him down for months. If we don't go after him now, then who knows when we'll get another chance."

Steve considered all their options. He'd hoped to be able to take out the arms dealer and his buyer on the same night, but it appeared as though someone had tipped him off. "We follow."

"Copy that," YN said as she began dismantling her rifle and heading toward the fire escape.

Bucky acknowledged Steve's order and began to do the same as YN. His bike was parked a block away in another alley and he wasn't surprised to find YN already there and waiting for him.

"Ready for some fun?" he asked as he straddled the machine and waited for her to get on behind him.

She leaned over and kissed the sensitive spot just under his ear. "With you? Always."

"We can hear you two, you know," Sam snarked just before he extended his wings and silently ascended into the sky.

"Sam's right," Steve added with a sigh. "Save it for later. We've got a job to do."

Steve hopped on his own bike and pulled out of the alley in pursuit of the target.

"He's getting into a black Cadillac Escalade," YN said, getting back to business as Bucky idled at the curb. "License plate number L64-7AN."

"That's your guy," Maria Hill confirmed over the comms from her position back at the Tower. "Victor Bout doesn't seem too concerned about driving around in a car registered to him."

"He's ballsy," YN assessed as she watched him sit in his car and send a text before driving off. "He knows the meet is a bust, but he doesn't seem too concerned about getting out of Dodge."

"He should be," Sam said as he touched down on the roof of building not far from where the Escalade was parked.

"Do you think he's moving the meet, Steve?" Bucky asked.

Steve had ridden around the block so that Bout was sandwiched between the two supersoldiers. He watched Bout for a few moments before answering. "You might be right, Buck. You and YN are less conspicuous—you two follow him and see where he goes. Sam and I will keep our distance until we know for sure."

Bucky did as Steve instructed and waited for a few moments after Bout had pulled out of his parking spot and headed back toward the city. He pulled out his black leather gloves and covered up the vibranium hand so as to not alert Bout that the Avengers were on his tail. 

Having a beautiful woman on the back of his bike would be just another way of keeping Bout from getting suspicious, but that wasn't the only reason why Bucky was glad she'd chosen to ride with him. He tried not to let it distract him, but he loved the way she wrapped her arms around him and molded herself to his back as they wove in and out of traffic following their target.

"He's heading toward the docks," Sam reported as he continued monitoring their subject from the air.

"Take a right at the next intersection, Barnes," Maria said. "Get off his bumper for a minute so he doesn't pick up your tail."

"Copy that," Bucky said and took the right toward the docks. He stopped at the corner and waited for the Escalade to come into view again. "He just turned. Do I follow, or hold position?"

Before Bucky could get his orders, a dozen police cruisers converged on the SUV with lights and sirens blazing. He swore under his breath.

"NYPD just showed up," Sam announced for Steve and Maria's benefit. "Bout is heading back toward the city and there's another SUV—a dark blue Lincoln Navigator heading the opposite direction."

"Bucky, you and YN go after Bout," Steve ordered. "Sam and I will follow the other SUV."

Bucky peeled out and began racing after the arms dealer. For a brief moment he worried about Steve, but he reminded himself that Sam had his six, so his friend would be fine.

"Get us closer and I'll take out his back tires," YN said as she reached for the Glock on her hip.

As she took aim at the vehicle in front of her, a man popped out of the back window and began firing at her and Bucky.

"Where the hell did he come from?" YN yelled as she took cover behind Bucky who'd raised his vibranium arm to shield them both from the bullets.

"Must have been hiding in the backseat," Bucky said. "Can you get a clean shot?"

YN peeked over his shoulder and raised her gun again. She fired off a round, but it went awry as a bullet tore into her left shoulder. "Son of a bitch shot me."

"Are you alright?" Steve asked, his voiced edged with concern.

YN swallowed down the nausea and pain. "I think I'll live, but I'm done with guns for the night." She reached for the knife on her thigh and used her knees to grip Bucky's hips to steady herself. "Don't veer off this course."

"You got this, doll?"

She didn't answer, but instead sent the knife flying at the back right tire of the SUV. With a loud pop, the tire blew and sent the Escalade careening into the other lane. A cacophony of horns began blaring as the SUV started to lose control, but YN wasn't done yet. Grabbing the knife from her ankle, she took aim and let it fly toward the back left tire.

With both back tires out of commission, the SUV went completely out of control and rammed into a concrete divider separating the lanes of traffic. Bucky put the bike into a controlled skid and pulled up right behind the incapacitated vehicle. Engaging the kickstand with his boot, he hopped off and headed for the guy in the backseat that was still firing at him.

YN pressed a hand to her shoulder and winced in pain. A part of her wanted to hang back since she knew Bucky could handle both Bout and his associate without her, but the other part of her that had grown to love the reckless soldier couldn't stomach the thought of him getting hurt while she sat back and did nothing.

Stifling the pain, she grabbed a few knives from the compartment on the bike and eased around the passenger side of the car. She peered in and saw Bout struggling with the seatbelt. Realizing that he was about to get away, she ran around the front of the car, but she was too late. Bout had extricated himself from the wrecked remains of the Escalade and was heading toward the subway half a block away.

People were screaming as he turned and began firing off shots toward her. Knowing that someone would most likely get hurt if she didn't do something soon, she made a snap decision. Without slowing down a bit, she flipped the knife so that her fingers were gripping the blade and sent it flying straight toward his chest.

She saw the surprised look on his face when the knife buried itself just to the left of his heart. He stopped and looked down at the protruding hilt as though he couldn't believe what was happening to him. In slow motion, he began to crumple to his knees as he reached to pull out the knife.

YN caught up to him before he was able to remove it from his chest. With the heel of her boot, she pinned his hand flat against the lapel of his suit. "I wouldn't do that unless you want to bleed out right here on the sidewalk."

"Bitch," he snarled.

"You're not wrong," she said with a cocky smile. "But I prefer to be called The Queen of Knives."

Maria had insisted on sending a car to pick up YN at the scene of the crashed Escalade since she was losing a lot of blood and it wasn't safe for her to be on the back of Bucky's bike. Steve and Sam were busy dealing with the buyer they'd caught in the Navigator, so a quick lift back to the Tower from Sam was out of the question.

A S.H.I.E.L.D. team exited the nondescript black sedan and took over the scene from her and Bucky. He gave strict instructions that his bike was to make it back to HQ without a single scratch on it before he took the keys to the sedan and helped YN into the passenger seat.

"How ya feeling, doll?" he asked as he buckled her in.

"This definitely doesn't make the top ten list of favorite things," she said through gritted teeth. "Might be number one on the least favorite list, though."

He chuckled and walked around to the driver's side and slipped behind the wheel. "I guess it's a good thing you still have your sense of humor."

"Yeah?"

He reached over and swiped a thumb across her cheek. "If you're still joking, then the pain must not be that bad."

"Oh, it's that bad," she disagreed as she inhaled sharply at a sudden turn. "I'm just trying to keep my mind off of it."

Bucky cursed the dense New York City traffic. He needed to get YN back to the Tower to get stitched up, but he also needed to keep her alert and talking so she could keep pressure on her wound.

"Is this the first time you've been shot?" he asked, trying to find something to talk about since his mind was drawing a blank.

"Yep."

"But not your first injury, I'm assuming?" When she didn't respond he glanced over and saw her eyes clenched tight with pain. "Hey, doll, stay with me. We're almost there, but you need to stay awake. Why don't you tell me about the worst injuries you've ever had."

"Your bedside manner sucks," she said as she cracked open an eyelid and glared at him.

"Humor me."

She laughed and immediately regretted it. "Okay, okay, no laughing. Painful memories it is." She took a few shallow breaths and to tried to remember the last time she'd been injured. "You've seen the scar on my back?" She didn't wait for an answer since she knew he'd seen every square inch of her body. "A few years back, I was in a fight with a HYDRA agent. He got the drop on me and sliced my back open. I thought I was going to die, but looking back, that was a picnic compared to this."

"Is he dead?"

"Coward tried to run away after slicing me, but he got a knife in the back for his trouble," she said with a wry grin. "Before that, the worst I'd had was a three inch gash on my upper thigh."

"That one was pretty close to the femoral artery," he said as traffic ahead of him cleared enough for him to take a shortcut down an alley he knew let out a few blocks from the Tower. "What else? You've got a lot of scars, doll."

"I took some shrapnel from an IED one time," she said. "I was far enough away that I didn't get the brunt of it, but some small pieces got lodged in my right calf. Took the docs over three hours to get them all out.

"Those are the biggies, but I've also broken my arm, my wrist, dislocated a shoulder—the one that just got shot, no less—and got the shit beat out of me my first solo mission and ended up with a massive concussion."

"Is that all?" Bucky asked with a chuckle. 

"Nope," she said. "I still haven't told you about the time I skinned my knees falling off the monkey bars on the playground when I was eight."

"I know that's not all." Bucky could see the Tower coming up ahead, but she was started to fade on him.

"What's left to tell?" she murmured as a heaviness started weighing her down.

"Heartaches are the worst of them all. I know from experience."

She scoffed. "You think I've ever let a guy break my heart?" 

"Then prove me wrong."

"Fine," she conceded with a huff. "There was this one asshat at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy." She closed her eyes and pictured his smug face when he'd told her they were over because he'd gotten assigned to Melinda May's team while she'd gotten stuck fetching coffee for Phil Coulson. She'd gotten the last laugh in the end, though.

"What's his name?" Bucky asked as he pulled into the garage and offered up a prayer of thanks that a med team was waiting for them by the elevator.

"Dead," she replied with a huge smile. "Bastard turned out to be HYDRA, so he got was coming to him." She paused for a moment as a wry smile spread across her face. "I have to give the Devil his due, though. I spent a good three months throwing knives at a picture of Grant Ward's face. Thanks to him, the Queen of Knives was born."

Bucky parked the car and was at the passenger side in a shot. He pulled her from the car and laid on her the waiting gurney. "She's lost a lot of blood."

"We've got her, Sergeant Barnes," one of the medics said as they applied a pressure bandage to her wound and put her in the elevator. The car was full and she was in good hands, so he pressed the button for the other one. While he was waiting, he called Hill on the comms. "Tell me everything you know about Grant Ward."

The drugs the medics were pumping through her IV made her head swim, but they brought with them the sweet relief from pain, so she wasn't complaining too much. The heavy weightiness that she'd felt in the car with Bucky was getting worse, and she knew the drugs were partly to blame. No one was telling her to stay awake, so she gave up trying and let sleep pull her into its languid cocoon.

___________________

_YN slipped out of her second story window and landed noiselessly on the ground below. The moon was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, so the inky blackness of the night enveloped her into its shadows as she crept along the edge of the barracks toward the tree line fifty meters away._

_Her footsteps were silent as she traversed the familiar paths of the woods. She and the rest of her class had been training in these woods for the past eight weeks, so she knew every twist and turn—even in the dark._

_As she came closer to the rendezvous point, she thought she heard the quiet murmur of voices, but when she got close enough, she only saw him. She waited a beat to see if he would detect her, and when he didn't, she plastered a smug smile on her face and stepped into his path._

_"Are we alone?" she asked, remembering the sound of voices from a moment before._

_He reached for her and pulled her into his embrace. "Of course not. That's the whole reason we meet out here in the middle of the night."_

_A branch snapped somewhere off to her right and she quickly turned to see what was there._

_"It's probably just a deer." Grant placed a hand along the side of her face and forced her to look at him. "It's just me and you."_

_She took a deep breath and willed herself to relax. "We get our assignments tomorrow. Are you excited?"_

_"Of course," he said. "I'm sure we'll both get field assignments."_

_"What if we get separated?"_

_"We've managed to keep this relationship going for two months under extreme conditions. I'm sure something as simple as distance will keep us apart."_

___________________

But it had.

YN's mind was still foggy, but she was aware enough to know that she'd been dreaming. Or having a nightmare, if the truth be told. She hadn't spared a second thought to Grant Ward since she'd heard he'd died a traitor, but apparently bringing up his name to Bucky had put him at the forefront of her subconscious.

She wanted to enjoy the drug-induced sleep that only came with the good stuff, but she knew that once her mind had fixated on one topic, she'd slip in and out of the memories for the rest of the night. Resigned, she closed her eyes again.

___________________

_"If you keep throwing knives at that picture, there won't be anything left," Agent Coulson remarked as he stood just inside the threshold with his eyebrows raised._

_"That's the point," YN said as she balanced another knife and took aim._

_"Anyone I know?"_

_"Not unless you keep company with bastards."_

_The knife hit the picture dead center and YN nodded in satisfaction. She'd been using the same photo of Grant for target practice the last few months, and while the outer edges of the print showed her clumsy first attempts, his face had been completely obliterated once she'd honed her skill._

_"We have people you can talk to if that's something you're interested in."_

_YN walked across the room and dislodged the knife before turning back to her boss and flipping the knife a few times. "This is therapeutic, and a useful skill to have." She sheathed the knife and gathered her things. "Did you come down to chat, or is there something you need me to do for you?"_

_"Oh," Agent Coulson said, as though he'd completely forgotten why he'd gone looking for YN. "We have a mission."_

_YN looked down at her G-Shock military-grade watch and then back up at Coulson. "It's not Taco Tuesday."_

_"No. No it's not," he said with a wry smile. "Have you ever been to Malibu?"_

_"Can't say that I have, sir."_

_"You'll love it there." Coulson looked down at the knife strapped to YN's thigh. "You can probably leave the knives at home, though. We're going in as suits—not tactical."_

_"I'm sure it'll fit under my skirt," she said with a side-eyed glance at her boss. "Knives are a girl's best friend, after all."_

___________________

"Are they now?"

YN's brow furrowed. The voice asking the question didn't belong to Coulson, but she recognized it anyway. Forcing her eyes open she looked up into the bright blue-grey eyes of her boyfriend.

She reached up to caress his cheek, but her limbs were heavy and her hand ended up in the middle of his face. "You're so pretty."

"And you're drugged out of your mind." He laughed as he took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." Her eyes fluttered closed. "Sleepy."

"No pain, though?"

"Uh-uh."

"Were you dreaming?"

She nodded her head.

"About what?"

"Coulson," she sighed as sleep started taking her back under again. "Trying to take my knives."

"'Knives are a girl's best friend.' Is that right?"

"Yep, it's my motto," she mumbled just before the real world faded away again.

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_Author's Note: Thank you for reading Day 245 of my writing challenge. I hope you enjoyed it! Was there any question as to what her life's motto would be? Did you enjoy the brief glimpse into her past? Don't you just love Phil? He's so sweet. But why on earth would they be heading to Malibu?? I look forward to your comments, and if you enjoyed this story, please consider reblogging!_

"I can't believe I'm still stuck in this thing." YN snarled down at the sling she'd been forced to wear for the past few weeks. "You have no idea how lucky you are to have that super soldier serum."

Bucky slid a hand around her hip and kissed her temple. "There's no sense in rushing things. You'll be cleared for missions as soon as the Doc says you're ready."

"Dr. Cho could've had this. . ."

"Dr. Cho is busy with her own work," Bucky reminded her with a sympathetic smile. "Just think about it this way—if you weren't still on Injured Reserve, we wouldn't have the chance to check out the Fall Festival in Brooklyn."

"I don't want to go to a Fall Festival," she muttered under her breath like a toddler about to throw a temper tantrum.

"Oh, c'mon. There's going to pumpkin ice cream, and pumpkin rolls, and pumpkin. . ."

"If you say pumpkin spice lattes I will literally rip off your vibranium arm and beat you with it," she warned with a death stare.

"What do you have against PSLs?"

"Tony has ruined my boyfriend," she announced to no one in particular, although she did get a few worried glances from passerby's.

"For your information, pumpkin spice lattes are amazing." He held up a finger to stop her tirade before continuing. "But, that's not what I was going to say."

She waited for him to finish the thought she'd interrupted before, but when he remained silent, she caved. "Okay, fine. They'll also have pumpkin. . .?"

He stepped in front of her and looked her right in the eye. "Are you ready for this?"

"We've already determined that I am not, in fact, ready for this."

"I can't wait for you to have to eat your words." He gave her a snarky smile. "They'll also have. . .a pumpkin carving contest."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? Are there prizes involved?"

"The grand prize is a twenty-five dollar gift card to Starbucks. You know, for all those pumpkin spice lattes you hate."

"I don't hate them," she said. "I'm just kinda sick of them." She shrugged. "But it's almost Peppermint Mocha time, so I could always save the gift card for December."

"You're pretty sure you're going to win, aren't you?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? I was born for this contest."

The festival wasn't as horrible as YN had imagined, and after the second scoop of pumpkin ice cream, she was ready to get to work on carving her pumpkin. The rules were pretty open-ended—the only requirement was that the carving needed to be something related to Halloween.

She felt a little guilty when she saw that it was only her and a few other adults competing against a handful of kids, but when their parents came over to help, her guilt vanished in an instant. The contest organizers had provided each participant with a set of carving tools, but YN had a few knives strapped to her person, so she used those instead.

By the time the buzzer sounded, YN's adrenaline was coursing. She'd chosen a slightly more difficult design than the typical jack-o-lantern face, and she'd had to rush to get the last few details finished in time. But as she sat back and admired her handiwork, she had to admit that it wasn't half bad.

"The pumpkins will now be placed on the shelves our local vocational school carpentry class was kind enough to make for us this year," the emcee announced as volunteers came around to collect the pumpkins and place them on the aforementioned shelves. "Voting will be open for one hour, so once we get them lit, make sure to cast your vote."

"Wait," YN said as she turned to Bucky. "There's not a panel of judges?"

Bucky gestured to the crowd of people around them. "These are your judges."

"But, but," she stuttered.

"It'll be fine," he assured her as he turned her attention to the pumpkins on the shelves. "Look. Your pumpkin is hands down the best one up there. Surely everyone will see that."

She gave him a slight shove toward the voting booth. "Well, go vote for mine just in case."

He shook his head and started laughing, but went over and cast his vote to make her happy. "I think there's still some pumpkin ice cream if you want another scoop."

Feeling herself weakening under the temptation, she sighed. "I mean, I wouldn't say no."

"C'mon, let's go get in line. It'll take your mind off the contest."

Bucky dragged her around to every booth in the festival, and by the time they'd made it back to the main stage with the shelves of pumpkins, the voting had already ended and the volunteers were counting the ballots.

"Everybody gather 'round," the emcee called out to the crowd. "The results are almost in. Now to remind you, we have three prizes—third place is a ten dollar gift card to Panera Bread, second place is a twenty dollar gift card to Nathan's Famous at Coney Island, and first place is a twenty-five dollar gift card to Starbucks." 

He covered the mic and turned back to the group of volunteers counting the votes. They handed him a slip of paper and he nodded his head as he silently read over it. "Okay, folks. The votes are in. Third place goes to Ryleigh and Kyleigh Clendenin for their spooky ghost carving." 

The crowd applauded as the cute little blonde twins went up on stage to collect their prize.

"Yours was much better than theirs," Bucky whispered supportively as he clapped for the little girls.

YN didn't say anything, but gave him a smile to show her appreciation.

"Okay, second place goes to David McNamara for his carving of a cat wearing a witch's hat," the emcee announced drawing another round of applause as David went on stage to accept his gift card.

"First place is definitely yours, doll."

YN didn't have time to respond as the emcee began speaking again.

"And that leaves our first place prize winner." He paused as he looked over at the shelves of pumpkins. "Can anyone guess which one it is? I'm sure you can. First place goes to YN YLN's carving of the headless horseman with the majority of the votes. Congratulations, YN, come on up and get your prize."

YN did a little victory butt wiggle before giving Bucky a kiss and heading up to the stage to get her prize.

"Wait a second," the emcee said when he saw her sling. "Did you really carve that pumpkin?"

"She's the Queen of Knives," a man from the crowd shouted out. 

The emcee took a step back and narrowed his eyes before turning to find Bucky in the crowd. "Oh, it appears we have a couple of Avengers in our midst tonight, folks. I'd say you had an unfair advantage, but it appears as though carved that pumpkin with one hand tied behind your back."

The crowd erupted in laughter and YN shrugged her good shoulder. "Evens the playing field, right?"

"How about this, ladies and gentlemen," the emcee announced. "Since the Queen of Knives here had a little bit of an advantage, how about we see if she and the Winter Soldier would be willing to take a few pictures—maybe sign a couple autographs."

"Do I still get the gift card?" YN asked.

"Absolutely," the emcee said with a wink. "Rules are rules, and it didn't say anywhere that you couldn't be a superhero."

She held out her hand and gave his a quick shake. "Sounds like a deal to me."

______________________

_Author's Note: Thank you for reading Day 302 of my writing challenge. I hope you enjoyed it! Was there any doubt that the Queen of Knives would get the pumpkin carving prompt! Do you think it was fair that she won the contest? I mean, she kinda did have one hand tied behind her back, and she and Bucky will have to sign a few autographs and take some selfies to even things out, so it's not too scandalous. Have you ever carved a pumpkin? It's a lot harder than it looks if you're doing a more difficult design! We're winding down this Miniseries, so it's probably going to be a lot of fluff from here on out. . .we've already been through the angst with these two and they deserve to be happy! I look forward to your comments, and if you enjoyed this story, please consider reblogging!_

YN winced as Bucky flipped her over his back and she landed hard on her left shoulder. 

"You okay?" Bucky was by her side in an instant, rolling her over and checking to see how badly she was injured.

"I'm fine," she said through clenched teeth. "I just landed on it wrong."

"Maybe it's too early to be training again."

She shook her head. "No. I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines. The more I work it out, the better it'll feel—I'm just stiff is all."

"You look like you're in pain," he said as he helped her to her feet. "Why don't you grab a shower and I'll make you an ice pack."

She wanted to refuse, but his suggestion sounded too good to pass up. "Add some alcohol to that mix and we've got a deal."

Bucky shook his head, but sent her to the showers so he could head up to the kitchen to get the items she'd requested. He wasn't sure when she'd eaten last, so he grabbed some crackers and cheese to go with the wine he'd poured her.

When she walked into the common room twenty minutes later, she was surprised to see the spread he'd set up for her at the dining room table. "What's all this? I thought I was just getting a bag of ice and a beer."

"You deserved something a little nicer."

"There's nothing wrong with a ice cold beer," she said as she sat down and laid the ice pack on her shoulder.

"No, but I thought we'd class it up a bit."

Not one to turn down a bottle of Tony's expensive wine, she took the glass Bucky offered and inhaled its heady aroma before taking a generous sip. "This is perfect."

"I thought you'd say that." He took the tiny knife and cut her off a chunk of cheese before placing it on a cracker and handing it to her. "I stole some of the good cheese, too."

"Don't tell Tony," she giggled as she felt the wine starting to take effect. She'd skipped lunch, so the alcohol was going straight to her head. Bucky had definitely made a good call with the cheese and crackers.

They polished off one bottle and Bucky went back for a second while YN raided the kitchen for snacks. The cheese was all gone, but there was a bunch of seedless grapes in the fridge and a giant plastic tub of cheese puffs hidden behind a box of bran flakes.

Bucky came back in just as YN was sitting down again.

"Tony caught me in the wine cellar, but Thor was kind enough to give me a flask of Asgardian mead." He held up the tiny silver container and waggled his eyebrows. "You only get a sip of this, though."

"That's not fair," she said as she popped a grape into her mouth.

"You're already tipsy."

"My shoulder doesn't hurt anymore, though."

He shook his head and gave her the flask. "Ladies first, then."

She took a bigger sip than she should have, and her eyes grew wide as the potent drink made her whole body start to grow warm. "Wow. Thor wasn't joking about that stuff."

"Okay, no more of that for you." Bucky took a drink and realized immediately why Steve was such a fan of Thor's alcohol.

By the time the flask was empty, it was close to one in the morning, but Bucky and YN were having too much fun to even think about going to bed.

"What in the hell is going on in here?" Steve asked as he walked into the common room rubbing his sleepy eyes. "I can't sleep for all the racket."

"We're playing a game," Bucky slurred. "Wanna play, Stevie?"

Steve's vision adjusted to the light and his eyes grew wide as he realized what Bucky and YN were doing. "Please tell me she's only using your vibranium hand for that?"

Bucky nodded as YN began jabbing a knife in between his fingers as fast as she could. "Russian Roulette—Avengers style."

Steve walked over and took the knife from YN. She made a noise of protest as a pout puckered out her lower lip.

"We were just having a little fun," she complained as she reached for the knife.

"Not anymore." Steve looked down at the table and saw the all-too familiar flask. Picking up and giving it a sniff, his suspicions were confirmed. "How much Asgardian mead did you two drink?"

"All of it?" Bucky answered.

"Okay, that's it," Steve announced as he pulled the cutting board from under Bucky's hand and took both it and the knife back to the kitchen. As frustrated as he was with his two friends, he was glad that they had enough sense to use the cutting board—Tony would've killed them if they'd nicked up his ridiculously expensive table.

He walked back into the dining room and put his hands on his hips.

"Uh-oh," Bucky said to YN. "We're getting the Eyebrows of Disappointment."

The two drunks started chuckling and Steve shook his head. "I know you won't remember this in the morning, so I'll say it again then, but from now on there will be no drunken Russian Roulette. I can't believe it has to be said, but it's now on the list of Games We Shouldn't Play."

"Before or after Monopoly?" YN asked with a loud hiccup.

"After, doll," Bucky said in all seriousness. "Monopoly is where friendships go to die."

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_Author's Note: Thank you for reading Day 326 of my writing challenge. I hope you enjoyed it! How many of you thought this one was going to take a kinky turn there at the end? If so, you need to get your minds out of the gutter! 🤣🤣 Drunken Russian Roulette wouldn't be too dangerous as long as they were using Bucky's vibranium hand, though, so did Steve really have a reason to get mad? Probably! What did you think of Bucky's last comment? Monopoly is a brutal game. . .almost as brutal as UNO with those Draw 4 Wild Cards! We've only got one more left to go, and it's a Christmas story, so be prepared for an abundance of fluff!! I look forward to your comments, and if you enjoyed this story, please consider reblogging!_

"So," Steve said as he gave Bucky a knowing smile. "What did you get YN for Christmas? Something sparkly, I hope?"

Bucky rolled his eyes and shoved his friend out of his way so he could get to the refrigerator. "I'm not telling you what I got her."

"It's probably knives," Sam interjected. He was sitting on the couch in the living room leafing through a magazine someone had left lying on the coffee table.

"It's not knives," Steve said before turning to Bucky. "Please tell me it's not knives."

Bucky looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "They're kinda sparkly."

Steve closed his eyes and buried his face in his hand. "Buck."

"It's okay, Steve," Sam said, still not looking up from his magazine. "YN likes knives and she like Barnes—it's a match made in hell."

"Not helping, birdbrain," Bucky snarled before turning back to Steve. "It's not just any knives. I had Gerber make her a specialized set with her insignia engraved on the hilts."

Steve face lit up. "Forget everything I just said. That's perfect." He clapped his friend on the shoulder. "She's going to love them."

"I hate to admit it, but that's a pretty nice gift," Sam said with a sigh of indignation. 

Bucky grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed back toward his room. He couldn't get his mind off of what Sam and Steve had said. He knew they'd changed their minds after he'd explained the uniqueness of his gift, but now he was filled with doubts that his present wouldn't be everything YN was hoping for on Christmas Day.

He spent the next few weeks worrying about his decision, but when he saw the look of pure joy on YN's face when she opened up the custom made case with a full assortment of knives specially engraved just for her, tears came to her eyes.

"Oh, Bucky," she said as she leaned over and hugged him. "These are absolutely beautiful."

"I'm sorry," Tony said as he held up a hand. "Is no one else concerned that we're apparently giving deadly weapons as Christmas gifts now?"

YN gave him a dirty look. "Shut up, Tony. You're the one that made a suit for your wife’s birthday last year."

"One," Tony replied with one finger raised, "that was a birthday present. Totally different." He held up a second finger. "And two, that suit is meant to be used for defense only."

"I call bullshit," Rhodey said. "Our suits are technically weapons of mass destruction." He hooked a thumb toward Steve. "Now Cap's shield on the other hand—that's a defensive tool."

"Not the way he uses it." Nat looked over at Steve with a smirk before continuing to open her presents.

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve asked with a glare at the redhead on the other side of the room.

"Look," YN interjected before an all-out war started. "Bucky got me a lovely present, and frankly, I don't care if you approve or not." She pulled out one of her new knives and pointed it at each person sitting around the tree. "And now if any of you steal one of my knives, I'll know."

Bucky's nervousness eased once he realized that YN truly did love the gift he'd given her. But he wasn't finished just yet.

Once all the presents had been opened and breakfast had been enjoyed, they'd each gone back to their rooms for a mid-morning nap. YN was already heading for the bed when Bucky stopped her.

"There's one more thing."

She stopped and turned to face him. "What are you talking about?"

"One more present," he explained as he pulled a small wrapped package from one of his drawers. "I've had Gerber working on the knives for a while now, but that wasn't your real Christmas present." He gave her a lopsided smile. "I just needed something for you to open in front of the team. And I was really hoping you wouldn't be mad at me for getting you knives for Christmas."

With her interest piqued, she walked across the room and took the small package from his hands. "What did you get that you couldn't give to me in front of our friends?"

He nodded toward the box. "Open it and find out."

Her stomach turned to butterflies as she stared down the box. She had her suspicions about what it contained, but she was scared of getting her hopes up. Her relationship with Bucky was everything she'd ever dreamed of, and if this box contained what she thought it did, it would make this Christmas the best she'd ever had.

Steeling her nerves, she slid her finger under the flap of paper and ripped the tape off. Under the paper was a box in shade of blue that was unique to only one store, but just because it was a piece of jewelry, it didn't mean it was a ring.

"You gave me a chance when no one else wanted to," Bucky said softly as she began to lift the lid of the box. "You were my first friend—besides Steve—after I came back, and I'll never forget that."

She paused and looked up at him. _Was he giving her a friendship bracelet?_

"I did a lot of research on dating in the twenty-first century once I realized that I'd fallen in love with you. Do you know the one piece of advice most of the experts agree on?"

With her fingers still poised over the lid, she shook her head.

"They all say you should marry your best friend," he told her as he guided her hands to finish opening the box. 

"But Steve's your best friend," she blurted out without meaning to.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I love the guy, don't get me wrong, but he's not exactly my type. You're a whole lot prettier than he is." He pulled the ring from the box and held it up for her to see. "Now that we've cleared that up, will you marry me?"

Her right hand went to her mouth to stifle her sobs of joy while she held out her left for him to slip the ring onto. Once he'd gotten it on, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Is that a yes?" he murmured against her lips.

She pulled away just far enough to meet his gaze. "You're my best friend, too, you know."

"Didn't answer my question, doll," he teased as he playfully bit her lower lip.

"Yes, Bucky Barnes," she said with a contented sigh. "I'd love nothing more than to marry you."

He began backing her up to the bed. "Well, in that case. . . We have all this uninterrupted time before dinner tonight. Any ideas on how we can spend it?"

"Wedding planning?" she offered with a shrug.

"I was thinking more along the lines of practicing for the honeymoon." He picked her up and tossed her onto the bed causing her to burst out laughing.

Her smile faded as she gave him a sultry look. "I think that might be the best idea you've had all day."

** _~ The End ~_ **

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_Author's Note: Thank you for reading Day 359 of my writing challenge. I hope you enjoyed it! First of all—Merry Christmas to all of my followers that celebrate the holiday! I hope your day has been wonderful and you've gotten lots of presents! Consider this bit of fluff my present to you! What did you think about the knives? Were you surprised that he'd gotten her a custom made set as a present? He'd always planned for the ring to be her real gift, but he couldn't let Sam and Steve know that. . .He did a pretty good job of playing dumb though, didn't he? Did you like his proposal? It wasn't grand and elaborate, but these two have always kept things kinda simple so I thought it was fitting. I hope you enjoyed this series! I'm definitely going to miss this one! I look forward to your comments, and if you enjoyed this story, please consider reblogging!_


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